In a lawsuit filed Aug. 3 in Jackson County circuit court, FC Kansas City and Missouri Comets co-owner Brian Budzinski is seeking damages in excess of $3 million against his two co-owners, Greg and Brad Likens. Budzinski alleges that both Greg and Brad Likens, who are brothers, deliberately excluded him from the Comets’ management committee meetings.

Decisions made by the Comets’ management committee meeting must be approved by 75 percent of the committee, according to the suit. That level could not be reached without Budzinski, who has a 33.34 percent ownership interest. In the suit, Budzinski claims that the Likenses have failed to inform him about management committee meetings dating back to October 2015.

Seeking damages of $3.075 million, Budzinski claims that he has been denied his position on the Comets’ management committee, thus devaluing his initial investment in the franchise, which plays in the Major Arena Soccer League.

Budzinski and his lawyer, John Shank, both declined comment. An attorney for the Likenses could not be reached for comment.

FC Kansas City, the National Women’s Soccer League team owned by the same ownership group, was not mentioned in the suit. Huw Williams, FCKC’s general manager, said he had not been made aware of the suit until Thursday night, and had “no concept at all of what’s accurate and what’s not accurate.”

FCKC coach Vlatko Andonovski, a former Comets player who recently stepped down as head coach of that team, also said he didn’t know about the suit until Thursday.

“I just try to stay away from it,” he said. “My focus is on the team and what happens on the field. We’ve got five games (remaining) and our focus is to win them all.”